Tour De France Has Begun
Tour De France Has Begun: Chris Froome’s pursuit of a record-tying fifth Tour de France title has begun amid big crowds under sunny skies on an island off the Atlantic coast.
The full peloton of 176 riders split between 22 teams got rolling Saturday morning for the mostly flat 201-kilometer (125-mile) first stage from Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile to Fontenay-le-Comte.
Three French riders — Kevin Ledanois (Team Fortuneo-Samsic), Jerome Cousin (Direct Energie) and Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) — attacked at the start flag and quickly established an advantage of more than a minute.
After crossing a bridge to the mainland, the route will take riders along the coastline before heading slightly inland for the finish.
Crosswinds permitting, the first wearer of the yellow jersey should be decided in a mass sprint.
Froome is aiming to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as the only riders to win the Tour five times.
The three-week Tour ends July 29 in Paris.
The Tour de France is an annual male multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists of 21 stages over a little more than 3 weeks.
The race was first organized in 1903 to increase sales for the newspaper L’Auto which is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organization. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except when it was stopped for the two World Wars.
As the Tour gained prominence and popularity, the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. Participation expanded from a primarily French field, as male riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite.
Traditionally, the race is held primarily in the month of July. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same with the appearance of time trials, the passage through the mountain chains of the Pyrenees and the Alps, and the finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long segments (stages) over a 23-day period and cover around 3,500 kilometers (2,200 mi). The race alternates between clockwise and counterclockwise circuits of France.
There are usually between 20 and 22 teams, with nine male riders in each. All of the stages are timed to the finish; the riders’ times are compounded with their previous stage times. The rider with the lowest cumulative finishing times is the leader of the race and wears the yellow jersey.
While the general classification garners the most attention, there are other contests held within the Tour: the points classification for the sprinters, the mountains classification for the climbers, young rider classification for riders under the age of 26, and the team classification for the fastest teams. Achieving a stage win also provides prestige, often accomplished by a team’s cycling sprinter specialist.
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